Get Your Sea Legs
by Misha Oka
Summary: There's something weird about the girl Ethan meets while fishing, and after he drags Silver into the mess, neither of their lives are going to be the same. (mermaid AU, rated T for language)
1. Chapter 1

**Hello friends! I'm going to keep the into short and sweet-more author notes under the cut**

**In short, this is an AU set in HeartGold/SoulSilver verse, and it's something I've been thinking about doing for a while**

**I love Pokemon, and I love mermaids, so I just had to tie two of my favorite things together. I hope you enjoy~**

* * *

_Once I sat upon a promontory  
And heard a mermaid on a dolphon's back  
Uttering such dulcet and harmonious breath  
That the rude sea grew civil at her song  
And certain stars shot madly from their spheres  
To hear the sea-maid's music_

_ - William Shakespeare (A Midsummer Night's Dream)_

* * *

He's fishing on the banks of Olivine when he first sees her. At first he assumes she's a swimmer and pays her no mind, though he does wonder what she's doing huddled (hiding, almost) among the rocks. But she's not doing anything worth noting at first, and doesn't stay at the front of his mind for long. Instead he's focusing on fishing for a Pokemon he can use to surf to Cianwood-he'd asked Silver to loan out his Feraligator, but the redhead had refused ('_selfish prick_', he thinks bitterly as he casts his line again).

It's only after ten minutes have passed that Ethan realizes the girl's still there, and she's very obviously staring at him. And she doesn't stop, not even when he makes it clear he knows she's looking at him. He pulls exaggerated faces to try and get the point across; first surprised, then creeped out and annoyed, and finally angry, but she seems not to notice. He's verging on being actually irritated with her, but then his fishing rod jerks in his hands, and instantly everything else on his mind vanishes.

He doesn't notice how she perks with interest and edges closer as he struggles with the line.

Whatever's at the end of his hook is putting up quite a fight, and he throws all his strength into his arms to wrestle with the Pokemon. The line is completely taught and it's slow going reeling the Pokemon in, but soon enough there's ripples and splashes and a dark shape under the water that lets Ethan know he's almost got it.

There's a splash to his left, and he glances over but doesn't see anything but small ripples in the water. Not even the girl; she must have swam off, he figures, but doesn't pay it any mind.

A second later and his mind's back on his fishing. The Pokemon continues struggling, and for a moment he's afraid he'll lose the line until the struggling stops. There's a quick, sharp tug on the line, and then it goes slack.

For a moment Ethan thinks he's won, but his triumphant smile is soon replaced by one of bitter disappointment. The line's broken, and he curses loudly as he reels it in. Upon inspection, he notices the line's been cut, not broken; the end is clean cut, not frayed. As if something bit it or sliced through it with a knife or sharp bit of shell, he thinks.

He's mourning the loss of his line and catch when there's another splash, to his right this time. For a moment he hopes that by some miracle the Pokemon he lost has come back, but it's brown hair that floats to the surface, followed by the head and shoulders of the girl from before. She's closer to him now than she was, and he can finally make out her features. Her hair glistens with seawater and hangs down her back and over her shoulders, the ends trailing in the water and floating around her. Her eyes are big and brown, and even though they're pretty there's something wild in them, something unnatural.

"Uh…hi," Ethan says slowly, and she cocks her head to the side curiously. She doesn't say anything, just stares at him with those big eyes of hers. She's cute, _really _cute, but weird, and he doesn't know why she's just _staring_ at him like that.

After a moment her eyes light up as if she's realized something, and she smiles at him. She has a nice smile too, but her canines are a little too long, a little too sharp.

"Do you want something?" he asks, but she still doesn't speak.

He's definitely weirded out, and even though he could leave he isn't. He's not sure why, but it might have something to do with the fact that he can't tell if she's wearing a swimsuit or not, and he'd like to figure that out.

She's still not saying anything, and curiosity is getting the better of him. So he reaches out towards her, gingerly. She stares at his hand as though she's never seen one before, but after a moment extends her hand as well, and holds his with hers. Her hand is wet and cold, and he almost lets go, but she's holding on tightly.

Her mouth opens then, and she finally speaks. But it's not in a language he understands; it's smooth and melodic and reminds him of waves gently lapping at the shore. She smiles brightly when she finishes, and he just stares. Her smile fades slightly, and she releases his hand and starts to turn away.

"Wait!" he exclaims, and she turns back, and there's more ripples in the water behind her.

Something else breaches the surface, and Ethan's jaw drops to the ground.

Water falls in droplets from a shiny white tail. It's flecked with gold and orange, with the same patterns and appearance of a Goldeen's. At first Ethan assumes it belongs to a Pokemon, but after a moment it's clear that the tail is hers.

She's biting her lip and staring at him worriedly, but he can't stop looking at that tail of hers. She asks him something in that bizarre language of hers, and he tries to reply but all that comes out is a series of garbled noises.

He'd heard about mermaids before, believed in them when he was a kid.

But he never thought he'd ever actually meet one.

He might be hallucinating, he thinks, but the girl-no-mermaid, is right there in front of him. She looks worried, and she's swimming closer, resting her arms and chin on the rock he's sitting on. She's still chattering away, a hint of concern in her voice (at least, he thinks there is), and staring up at him with her big brown eyes.

The fins of her tail are still poking above water, waving lazily in the breeze, and he finally accepts what's in front of him. And as soon as he does, his confusion and trepidation is replaced with excitement. A _mermaid_, and a cute one at that. He's gotten lucky, really lucky, and he doesn't know what to do. Should he try and talk with her? Swim with her? But he suddenly remembers stories, not just of mermaid but sirens who lure sailors to their deaths, and he decides that's not a good idea just yet. Still, she looks innocent, and he can't just do nothing about this.

He wants to show someone, he realizes. To prove to someone else that she exists.

"Wait there," he says hurriedly, starting to get up. She looks up at him, confused, and he smiles down reassuringly. "Here. Wait, uh, wait here. Can you understand me?" There's no indication in her face that she understands him though, and when he starts to move she flinches back.

"Ah, no!" He waves his arms and she stops moving, to his relief. He spends the next minute speaking slowly and gesturing wildly, and he thinks that by the end she understands what he's trying to say.

At least, he hopes so. But he keeps looking back as he dashes off to find Silver, and before she's out of sight he can tell that her head is still bobbing above the waves.

* * *

Of course Silver doesn't believe him. And he's annoyed at being dragged off in the middle of training, but Ethan is persistent. Part of him wants to show off his find, and part wants to reassure himself that he's not crazy, that he didn't imagine this girl. Silver has a good time mocking him as they head to the shore, but Ethan doesn't let it get to him.

At least, he doesn't show it if it does.

He's worried that she'll be gone as they near the shore, and part of him wants to turn and head back, play the whole thing off as a joke. But he knows he'll never hear the end of it from Silver if he does, and his friend is already making enough snarky remarks at his expense.

They near the rocks and his stomach drops when he doesn't see her right away. The white and orange tail is nowhere in sight, and out of the corner of his eye he can see Silver rolling his eyes.

His face goes red out of embarrassment, and he's about to leave and try to put the whole thing behind him when she finally surfaces. Relief floods him, and he gives Silver a quick look of 'I told you so' before getting to his knees so he's at the mermaid's level. He beams at her, but he's surprised when she doesn't smile back. Instead she looks scared, swimming back far beyond his reach.

It takes him a moment to realize that the cause of her fear is Silver, who's staring down at her with a shocked expression that could be easily be mistaken for angry.

"It's okay, it's okay," Ethan reassures her, grabbing Silver's arm and dragging the redhead down next to him. She's wide-eyed and biting her lip, and even Silver has to admit that she's adorable.

"He's a friend," Ethan continues. "_Friend_." She obviously doesn't understand, and he tries repeating himself with all different kinds of inflection to no avail.

"He's not going to hurt you," he continues, and glances over at Silver. He looks irritated, and he nudges him with his knee. "_Smile,_" he whispers, "_You're scaring her, idiot_." Silver cringes but does his best impression of a smile, and she slowly offers a small smile of her own.

"See! He's nice!" Ethan throws an arm around Silver in a half-hug, and though Silver wants to pull away he decides to put up with it. Her eyes light up in understanding, and she chirps something unintelligible at the both of them. Silver raises an eyebrow, and Ethan shoves him before he can say anything.

She swims closer to them, and her tail finally rises above the water. "_Holy shit_," Silver mutters, and Ethan shoves him again.

She doesn't understand and cocks her head, blinking at the pair of them curiously. It appears as though she's mulling something over, her tail swishing back and forth in the water. Silver and Ethan are staring down at her curiously (Ethan's still trying to decide if she's wearing a shirt, and Silver simply can't process what he's seeing) when she nods to herself, as if resolved.

Before Silver can blink she hoists herself up onto the rock and takes his face in her hands. Her brown eyes stare right into his silver ones, and he tries to keep his fixed on hers (but she _isn't_ wearing anything, and it's hard to keep his eyes front). This is weird, and he's about to move away when she leans in and kisses him.

Silver's face goes crimson and Ethan's jaw drops, and it doesn't close even when the girl slips back into the water. He stares at Silver, who's still in shock, and feels an unexplained pang of jealousy.

"I called dibs," he grumbles, and Silver snaps out of it briefly to side-eye Ethan.

"_When_?"

"In my head. I saw her first." He sounds petty and bitter, and Silver rolls his eyes. The color still hasn't faded from his cheeks but he's getting over his initial surprise, albeit slowly.

She's staring up at him still, smiling innocently. His face is getting steadily hotter as he looks at her; she's damn cute and topless to boot, and she just kissed him out of nowhere.

She looks curious again, and rests her arms on the rock as she clears her throat.

"Why is your face red?"

* * *

**First of all, thanks for reading!**

**Second, I should add the disclaimer that I don't own nor am affiliated with the Pokemon franchise **

**This chapter is slightly rushed, but I wanted to get basic exposition out of the way so I can get to the good plot**

**So far I have one short arc planned, but I'm hoping for this to be a long standing fic. I hope to be able to delve into different aspects of mermaid/siren lore and tie it into the world of Pokemon, as well as explore all different kinds of relationships (old and new, friendships and romances, etc). If the story goes on as long as I hope there will be characters from other games as well, some making cameos and some with permanent roles. **

**Anyways, critiques and comments are highly appreciated, and I'd love to hear what you guys think of this AU! Thank you!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello everyone! I apologize for the wait on this new chapter, but unfortunately life got in the way. **

**But I finally found the time to get something done, and I'm pretty happy with it given the short amount of time I had to write. I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

…_but surely woman rose from the frothy sea, as resplendent as Aphrodite on her scalloped chariot  
- Margot Datz_

* * *

"Why is your face red?"

There's a long beat of silence as Silver and Ethan stare blankly, both at a loss for words. Not a minute ago this girl-mermaid, Ethan reminds himself-could speak nothing but her strange songlike language. But here she is, asking questions as if she's been able to understand him all along. Perhaps he didn't hear her correctly? But Silver's giving her the same incredulous look, so perhaps not.

She's waiting for an answer, tapping her fingers on the surface of the water impatiently. The two boys glance at each other (Silver's face is still red, and Ethan realizes he's never seen Silver blush before; he'll remember to give him hell about it later) and then back down to her, but still neither say a word.

She huffs a little and repeats the question, "Why is your face red? Humans are not usually red."

Ethan snorts despite himself, getting a hard punch to the arm in response ('_worth it_', he thinks to himself).

"Silvy's just embarrassed because you stole his first kiss," he teases, dodging Silver's next attempted punch.

"I told you never to call me that," the redhead grumbles, but Ethan just laughs. "And that _wasn't_ my first." He doesn't know why he's getting so defensive, or why he's directing his statement at the girl who just kissed him (out of absolutely nowhere, and he's still wondering why she did so), but he does know that none of this is helping him calm the color in his cheeks.

She doesn't look any less confused by the exchange, but smiles nervously anyways. "So you are not unwell?"

Silver groans and shakes his head. "I'm fine."

Her smile grows with relief. "I am…" she pauses, as if searching for the word, "happy to know that." She crosses her arms on the rock and rests her chin on them, looking up at the two. "Do you have names?"

It's a strangely worded question, and they exchange glances before answering.

"I'm Ethan."

"Silver."

She purses her lips and points at Silver. "I thought you were Silvy."

Ethan's proud of himself; he manages to hold in his chuckle.

"I'm _not_," Silver snaps, a bit harsher than he meant to. He sighs to himself when she flinches back, and looks the other way.

"Don't worry about him, he's an ass," Ethan assures her. Again, she frowns.

"But he looks like a human."

"What? Well yeah, he…oh!" As soon as Ethan understands her confusion he bursts out laughing, and both she and Silver stare at him until he calms down enough to speak.

"H-he…hah, it's a figure of speech! It's just a…he's not really-"he has to take a moment to breathe, still fighting off stray bouts of laughter,"-that is, he _is _an ass, but not literally. Do you, uh…hah, do you get that?"

She bites her lip and thinks for a moment, but slowly nods.

Ethan grins and leans back on his hands. "Good. So what's your name, then?"

"It… does not translate well," she answers after a moment of hesitation. She speaks her name in her language; it's long and each syllable follows that last like a string of bubbles rising from the sea. "Lyra, it would be, in your language." She pulls a face, "Your language is not very beautiful."

Silver laughs at that; it's the first time Ethan's heard him do so in weeks.

"How come you're speaking it now, anyways? You didn't even understand it before."

"I learned it," Lyra answers simply.

"Just like that?"

She shrugs. "It was not very difficult."

"…right." Ethan makes a note to ask her about this again later, but for now the conversation is getting nowhere; her answers are vague, inconclusive and wholly unsatisfying.

There's a few beats in which no one says anything, the only sound waves crashing against the rocky coast. Finally, Silver decides to break the silence.

"So. You're a mermaid, huh."

Lyra nods shyly, swishing her tail in the water. "That is not the word we use, but it is the most accurate description you have."

Ethan chimes in, "Aren't you supposed to keep your existence a secret or something? Why are you even talking to us? Especially when you're not even wearing- I mean, shouldn't you be a bit more careful? You're lucky it was me you came across, someone else might have-"

"I know that," Lyra interrupts. "This was not an accident. I…" she hesitates, wondering how to dodge the question effectively. "I was simply curious," she concludes, and hopes the lie isn't obvious.

Her answer isn't nearly enough to satisfy him. "But what are you _doing_ here?"

"I am…curious," she repeats. "I wanted to see what you were doing with this thing." She points to Ethan's fishing rod to clarify.

Ethan purses his lips; a fishing rod couldn't be nearly interesting enough to cause her to surface, could it? Living in the ocean she must have seen one before, it wasn't as though he was the only angler out there. He gets the feeling there's something she's not telling him, but before he can question her about it realization hits him like a ton of bricks, and he forgets his other questions for the time being.

"Wait…you cut my fishing line, didn't you?!"

She looks down, slightly embarrassed at having been caught. "_**Lanturn**_* was scared. I had to help her. But I am not sorry. She was in pain."

Silver raises a brow at that and side-eyes Ethan, who flushes and stares down into the water.

"I didn't think I was hurting it," he mumbles sheepishly. He's been fishing before obviously, but he didn't think he'd ever hurt any of the Pokemon he'd landed. They hadn't had any visible injuries, in any case. Perhaps this was an isolated incident…at least, he hoped. "I'm sorry…is it okay?"

Lyra looks surprised at that, her eyes widening. From what she's heard, land dwellers have no qualms harming the _**Pokemon**_ of the sea or land. This male seems different though; genuinely penitent for his actions. Strange.

"_She_ was thankful for my assistance, and will recover. I will pass along your apology. I am sure it will be well received." She smiles a little up at Ethan, causing his face to heat up for a completely different reason. "But you must be more cautious in the future, do you understand?" Ethan nods slowly, getting a slightly wider smile in response.

"How could you tell, though?" Silver interjects, which is rare for him. "That it was hurt, I mean,"

Lyra frowns. "I have always been able to communicate with the _**Pokemon **_of the sea. It comes as naturally as breathing. She was calling for help, and I came to her aid. The-" she searches for a moment, trying to figure out the right word, "-hook, snagged her…caudal, I believe is your word for it. She was afraid."

"By...that, that word you used, you mean Pokemon, don't you?" Ethan asks. Lyra makes a face at that.

"The word is unpleasant to hear, I do not wish to speak it. _**Pokemon**_ refers to the same thing in my tongue." Both trainers have to admit it sounds much nicer when she says it, reverent and flowing with the same strange musical lilt that her language seems to carry. "Do you understand?"

"Uh-huh," they reply unanimously, and she flicks her tail, pleased.

"I am glad!" She's still got her arms resting on the rock they're sitting on and before Silver or Ethan can say a word she's using them to hoist herself up so she's sitting between the two of them.

It's hard for them not to stare; Silver manages to tear his eyes away after a few seconds, but Ethan doesn't have nearly the same amount of willpower. His gaze is fixed on her tail, the top half of it now visible while the rest is submerged. At her waist smooth pale flesh transitions to shining white scales dotted with patches of orange that reflect the sun, turning them into a brilliant gold. Two frilled pectoral fins extend a few inches below the beginning of her tail, again colored white and orange, the patterns still fitting a Goldeen's. It makes sense, Ethan thinks; from a distance her bottom half would look like an overly large specimen of the Pokemon. He has a strange compulsion to reach out and touch it, but he restrains himself, instead clenching his hands tight to his sides.

His gaze turns from her tail down to the hand propped against the rock. Her hands are small and delicate, the nails at the end of each slender finger long and sharp looking. There's something else as well; a pool of red blossoming underneath the palm of her hand.

"You're bleeding!" Ethan exclaims, grabbing her hand and examining it. Sure enough, there's a long ragged gash on her palm. Lyra stares down at it, watching curiously as blood trickles from the cut and flows down her arm. Even Silver glances over, a bit worried despite himself.

"This isn't good, we need to clean this up," Ethan continues, letting go of her hand and dipping his in the water before reaching around for his bag (she'd bled on him, and he didn't want the mess getting into his stuff). She nods, bending to dip her palm in the water as well, but Silver grabs her wrist to stop her.

"Don't do that, stupid! You're going to get it infected," he reprimands. Lyra tilts her head in confusion, looking at him with those wide eyes of hers, and the top of his ears go red. "I-It's salt water, and it'll sting too," he continues lamely.

She giggles a bit. "I have lost my blood under the water before, and I was not unwell. You do not need to worry about me." She purses her lip slightly and continues to marvel at her hand. "I have never seen so much of my blood before, though." It's a bit weird that she's so unfazed, Silver thinks, but doesn't voice his opinion.

After a minute or so of searching Ethan manages to find an old bandana in his bag and grabs it along with a bottle of water. "I'm going to clean this off, okay? Just sit tight." Lyra nods, watching as Ethan pours clean water over her wound, gently cleaning the blood off. Upon closer inspection the wound isn't as deep as he had thought, much to his relief. "How did this happen, anyways?"

Lyra thinks for a moment. "I must have cut it on your hook when I was helping _**Lanturn**_. I do remember a stinging feeling, now that I think of it." She shrugs. "It was not so painful that I noticed."

"I'm sorry," Ethan mumbles as he wraps the bandana tightly around her hand. "That was my fault, again."

There's a hand on his shoulder, and he glances up to see Lyra smiling gently at him, her face inches from his. He parts his lips to say something but nothing comes out, and his mouth just hangs open like a fish.

"There is no need to apologize. You did not mean for this to happen." She's close enough that he could kiss her and make things even between him and Silver, but he doesn't, even though it's tempting. Instead, he clears his throat and finishes tying the makeshift bandage. She removes her hand from his shoulder as she smiles in thanks, flashing her too sharp teeth.

Silver is glowering on her other side, but because it's so close to his usual expression, Ethan doesn't pick it up.

Lyra's busy admiring the bandage on her hand and isn't paying attention to either of them at the moment. Her tail swishes idly through the water as she examines the strip of cloth from all angles, murmuring something in Mermish as she does so.

It's getting late, the sun beginning to sink below the horizon. Ethan packs up his bag while Silver taps his fingers against the rock, none of them saying anything. But the silence isn't awkward this time; it's natural and more comfortable than before. From the perspective of a stranger observing them from behind, they'd appear to be three friends simply enjoying the sunset together.

* * *

***All bolded words from here on out will refer to words spoken in Mermish. I was originally going to make them italicized, but decided against it because I like using italics for emphasis in normal dialogue **

**Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! The story is still in that awkward introductory phase, which is the hardest to get through, in my opinion. But in the next chapter things will finally start happening, yay! In regards to pairings (as I got a question about this): I'm not sure who's going to end up with who at this point. Right now things are very up in the air; relationships may or may not develop between certain characters, it all depends on where the story goes~**

**I also want to thank everyone for their support. Your reviews and critiques have really driven me to work harder to keep this story going, and it makes me so happy to know that there are so many people out there who like this work!**

**A special thanks to all my reviewers: Alex, SilentDreamer23, x Desert Rose x, a cup of insanity, Nighttyger, Illusion of Insanity, Nom de Plume and Musical2day. Thank you so much for the feedback! Those who are reading this should go visit their pages and check out their works; spread the love!**

**Again, thank you all so much, and thanks for reading!**


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